Cowlishaw: What ever happened to that Thunder-Mavericks, I-35 rivalry?

4/14

Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer

Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (35) shoots over Dallas' Shawn Marion (0) as Darren Collison (4) watches in the first quarter during the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Friday, January 18, 2013.

If you know your history, there was a time when the Thunder-Mavericks rivalry was poised to become the best and most meaningful in local sports.

Of course, I’m going way back to another era — May 2011 — so bear with me, you suffering Mavs fans.

Dallas had just defeated Oklahoma City in five games in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder’s marvelous young talent had been on display in the series, to be sure, and it was one factor that could have certainly taken more of a toll on Dallas.

But like those mall T-shirts that read “Old Age and Treachery Beat Youth and Skill,” the Mavericks had moved on to take down the Miami Heat. Looking back on it now, both series victories seem more miraculous than they did at the time.

The Heat is marking time and making history en route to its third straight NBA finals. And unless the Spurs have something to say about it, the Heat probably will face Oklahoma City in the finals for the second straight year.

Where do the old and wise Mavericks figure into all this? They don’t.

That I-35 rivalry with Oklahoma City never materialized. After the Mavericks’ magical championship run, the NBA went into lockout mode. When it emerged, the Mavs were a different team, and the Thunder has gone about proving that on a regular basis.

When the teams meet Sunday night at American Airlines Center, the Thunder will have a 10-1 record against Dallas since that conference finals series of just 22 months ago. That does not include two exhibition wins for Oklahoma City coming out of the lockout that set the tone for what was to come.

It does include last spring’s four-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs.

Now the first round is as elusive for the Mavericks as a high-quality draft pick. Their run of 50-win seasons in shambles, the only way the Mavericks extend their playoff run to a 13th straight season is by scoring some improbable victories in the final six weeks.

An upset of the Thunder would be a great place for this team to start.

Dallas trails the Lakers by three games for the final playoff spot. The Lakers are 10-3 over the last month. Their collection of talent is starting to play as if the postseason holds some level of interest. That’s not a team that’s likely to go south.

The Mavericks have a better chance of catching Houston, a team they trail by four games, or Golden State (five games ahead). That is to say, Dallas’ chances are thinner than Rick Carlisle these days.

In reality, Dallas should not even be in this position. By that I mean that only through good fortune and the tireless orchestrations of Carlisle are the Mavericks sniffing the playoff picture.

When O.J. Mayo is your lead scorer, when a Vince Carter hand-in-his-face 3 is actually a good option at the end of a game, when Dirk Nowitzki’s stat line for the season (16 points, 6.9 rebounds) looks remarkably close to those of Chicago’s Luol Deng or New Orleans’ Ryan Anderson and when this is the good news about the team, you wonder why the Mavericks aren’t due for more pingpong lottery balls.

But who knows?

Maybe a new stage of that missing rivalry with the Thunder begins Sunday night. The NBA’s leading scorer, Kevin Durant, a man who had 92 points in the first two meetings with Dallas this season, has been off his game of late. Durant has gone five games without a 30-point game — for him, an eternity.

It’s unfortunate to think that it has come to this for Dallas, but maybe the Mavericks catch the Thunder thinking about more formidable opponents. Oklahoma City plays Denver Tuesday and Memphis Wednesday. Those are the two hottest teams in the Western Conference, potentially difficult second-round matchups for Oklahoma City this spring.

Second round? What’s that?

It may be years before we see another one of those around here, given the Mavericks’ 31-34 record and lack of young talent. Put your faith in Mark Cuban’s and Donnie Nelson’s ability to turn expiring contracts into players not so close to their expiration date at your own peril.

In the meantime, hope for an upset of Oklahoma City to spark a surprising surge toward the playoffs. It’s all this team has left.

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About Tim Cowlishaw

Tim Cowlishaw has been The Dallas Morning News' lead sports columnist since July 1998. Prior to that he covered the Cowboys for six seasons and the Stars for three as a beat reporter. He also covered the Rangers as a backup beat writer and was the San Jose Mercury News' beat writer on the San Francisco Giants in the late 1980s.

Tim has been appearing regularly on ESPN"s "Around the Horn" since the show made its debut in November 2002. He also worked with ESPN as part of the network's "NASCAR Now" coverage in 2007-08.

Favorite Dallas restaurants: Park, Nick and Sam's, Kenichi.

Worst sports prediction: His first in college ... that Earl Campbell had no shot at the Heisman Trophy.

Best sports memories: Seeing the Dallas Stars hoist the Stanley Cup long after midnight in Buffalo, watching the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl and Texas win the national title in perfect Rose Bowl settings.